Another group of shepherds
by Techapprentice
Summary: On their most recent trip through the Outrealm Gate, the shepherds seem to find themselves in an alternate Ylisse, complete with its own set of shepherds. Robin does find a few differences between the two groups though.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER – I do not own Fire Emblem**

**Another group of shepherds**

**Chapter 1 – The other world**

* * *

"Are you sure it was such a good idea to scout the area by ourselves Chrom?"

"Relax Robin, it's not like we're moving too far away from the others. Besides, from the looks of things, we may already know the area rather well."

Robin gave a small sigh and a nod but still looked around cautiously as he and his lord/ best friend roamed the area. A small walk gave the impression that they were really in the forests bordering Southtown. At first it confused both of them and the rest of the shepherds greatly since they should technically be nowhere near Southtown; in fact, it should be in an entirely different world.

* * *

Following the destruction of Grima, the world became rather peaceful with no large scale conflicts occurring. However, the shepherds still continued to roam from time to time and train, not allowing themselves to become complacent in their abilities. However even training became more of a chore; the risen that remained since Grima's destruction were few and far between and were now considerably weaker without their master's presence. The bandits only served as simple cannon fodder as well, leaving barely any worthy enemies for good combat experience.

Eventually, the shepherds turned to the Outrealm Gate, a portal on an island south of Ylisse which lead to many different worlds where they could gain more adequate training against stronger enemies and even chances to prove their strength against heroes of legend. After some time, it became common for them to plan expeditions into the Outrealm Gate and journey to new worlds.

This most recent expedition however, quickly caused a lot of confusion for the group. After entering the gate and leaving out the other side, they found their surroundings to be seemingly identical. For a little while they were wondering if it even worked and just spit them out the way they came, but a few word from their guide Old Hubba revealed that they were indeed in another world. The group headed main land, continuing to be baffled by the familiar scenery, even more so when after sometime, they came across what appeared to be Southtown, a small town south of Ylisse where Chrom found Robin several years ago and became a usual rest stop for the group on their way to the Outrealm Gate. Wanting a better understanding of this world and the surrounding area, Chrom takes Robin and explores the area while the other shepherds rest in 'Southtown', leading to their current situation.

* * *

The two friends had been wandering around the area for a couple of hours now, taking in the familiar scenery and having a pleasant conversation about whatever topics came up to pass the time considering how uneventful the trip has been so far; it wasn't that they were really complaining, but they were expecting bandits, risen or at least something to appear. This was an Outrealm after all, they were normally sent to ones which have some sort of conflict or issue. It was only natural for them to be a little suspicious.

"I think we've been exploring enough Chrom, we should probably start heading back."

Chrom nodded and the two started making their way back. After a small amount of time, Robin couldn't help but fell something was slightly off about the area now, it seemed as though someone had been here very recently, his suspicions were confirmed when he noticed something about the ground in front of them.

"Chrom, wait a second" said Robin as he moved his arm in front of Chrom to make him stop.

"What is it Robin? Is something wrong?"

"I believe so". Robin slowly moved forward inspecting the ground in front of him, he stopped when he found what he was looking for, it was a trap (pretty well designed he thought). He decided to trigger it there before anyone got caught. Chrom's eyes widened a bit, grateful his friend had stopped him in time; traps were never his forte.

"A pitfall trap, an old classic, well made too. Shame for the people that set it up that I have plenty of experience spotting these thanks to Morgan" said Robin before turning back to Chrom.

"It seems I owe you one Robin, thank you. However, since this is here, I wonder if the ones that set it up are close by as well"

Sure enough after saying that, a number of bandits started appearing behind the trees before the leader came out in front of the two of them.

"Well, look what we have here, the great lord Chrom of Ylisse and his grandmaster tactician. Seems the boys and I got a lucky catch today huh? Shame you didn't fall for the trap, but it's only a minor inconvenience." Said the leader as he and his lackeys began laughing.

This was something that annoyed the shepherds to no end in their own world. Their strength was known worldwide and yet bandits continued to look down upon them with arrogant grins like they think it's an easy win, of course it was quickly their downfall as the shepherds made short work of them. Though, they were in an Outrealm, perhaps these bandits were stronger than the ones they were used to, but the encounter did leave them with another question; how were they recognised in a world they weren't a part of?

The earlier worries about the bandits being stronger quickly faded. Despite there only being the two of them against a whole group, it wasn't too difficult to cut down the one that began fighting. Chrom with his trusty Falchion, managed to take down most of the ones fighting him with a single attack, he had a lance as well which he began training with after becoming a great lord but it wasn't really necessary for this battle. Robin was doing well himself, alternating between a silver sword and a thoron tome as the enemies came.

As the bandits' numbers became lower and lower the remaining enemies consisting of their leader and 3 other bandits recklessly charged towards the duo. The bandits never even made it to them as another two people quickly made their way out of the clearing and slew them quickly and efficiently; one with a familiar looking sword and the other with a thoron tome of his own, both in armour and robes similar to their own which caused both of their eyes to widen in shock. Even more so when the two strangers looked towards both of them and began to look shocked as well.

Standing in front of the two of them appeared to be another Chrom and Robin who appeared identical in every way, like they were looking in a mirror. The both of them and their look-alikes stared at each other in silence for a few minutes before the other Chrom finally spoke.

"Who are you, and why do you look like us?" asked the other Chrom. Robin was the next one to talk.

"Well this is indeed surprising. However… it actually makes a lot of sense."

* * *

**Chapter end**

**I'm new to writing fan fiction so apologies in advance for any mistakes and errors. Any reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated.**


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER – I do not own Fire Emblem**

**Another group of shepherds**

**Chapter 2 – The other shepherds**

* * *

_Previously…_

_Standing in front of the two of them appeared to be another Chrom and Robin who appeared identical in every way, like they were looking in a mirror. The both of them and their look-alikes stared at each other in silence for a few minutes before the other Chrom finally spoke._

"_Who are you, and why do you look like us?" asked the other Chrom. Robin was the next one to talk._

"_Well this is indeed surprising. However… it actually makes a lot of sense."_

* * *

"What do you mean Robin?" questioned Chrom

"Think about it, the world seems familiar, the bandits recognise us and now there are copies of us; we're in Ylisse, just not our Ylisse."

"Ok, can either you two please explain what's going on?" asked the other Chrom who was still visibly shocked a little bit.

"Well, you see, we-"

Robin was quickly interrupted by the sounds of an approaching horse and a familiar voice everyone recognised as Frederick.

"My lord, Robin, so this is where you were, I'm pleased to see both of you are safe."

As Frederick said this he finally got a good look at the scene in front of him, visibly shocked for a brief moment before getting a very serious look. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't actually tell which were his Chrom and Robin.

"What's going on here, which ones are real and who are the imposters?" Frederick quickly pulled out his lance ready for any possible attack. One of the Robins quickly spoke up.

"The Chrom and Robin there (pointing towards the two in front of him) are the ones you know. However, we are also Chrom and Robin." The others gave him a confused look before the other Chrom spoke.

"I'm sorry but I don't quite follow where this is going."

"This Chrom and I are merely visitors here that came from another world. To us, all of this is an Outrealm."

The other Robin managed to compose himself, realising where this conversation was going.

"The two of you came here from the Outrealm Gate?" he asked. Robin gave a nod in return.

"We and all the other shepherds regularly journey through the Outrealm Gate to train. It was confusing at first but it seems that the gate has taken us to another Ylisse this time".

"Wait, you mean there's an entire group of shepherds with you as well?" asked the other Chrom. He was still trying to get over the two in front of him, a whole group of doppelgangers (to him) was a bit too much to imagine at the moment.

"Yes, they should be resting in Southtown right now."

"My lord, how can we be so sure they're being truthful about this?" asked Frederick. It was then that the other Robin gave a short chuckle before answering for him.

"Wary as ever Fredrick but I don't think we need to doubt them too much. Outrealm or not, the fact that this Chrom can use a Falchion is definitely something to consider and honestly, considering a number of shepherds are time-travellers, Outrealm travelling isn't the most farfetched I've heard."

Both pairs gave a small laugh, seemingly over the awkwardness of the situation now. Fredrick put away his lance but was still watching cautiously.

"Well at least the situation has calmed down now." said Chrom, the other Chrom agreed.

"Indeed, but I guess he is correct, this isn't the oddest thing I've seen in recent years." said the other Chrom **(I'm going to start referring to these outrealm shepherds as O. Chrom, O. Robin etc. now for short)**. O. Robin was the next to speak.

"If you're not in too much of a hurry, I don't think anyone would mind if you joined us at our camp for a while. It's not far from here and you might find out if there are any big differences between our worlds." he said which made Robin think for a bit. Since this was an outrealm, it would make sense for there to be some differences between here and his own world; meeting the other outrealm shepherds could help him discover them much quicker. Robin pulled Chrom away for a second to discuss this with him in private.

"What do you think Chrom? Should we go?"

"I don't see too much harm; if they are us, then I would think they are trustworthy. Finding out what was unique about this world was the reason we went out in the first place."

"What about the others in Southtown?"

"I think they could last a night without us. They did know we could be gone for quite a while when we left."

Robin nodded before turning back to O. Chrom

"We accept your offer." he said. The others gave a small smile before leading the way back to camp.

* * *

Sometime later…

To say things were awkward at the camp would be an understatement, seeing two pairs of Chroms and Robins definitely wasn't something they saw every day and most of them weren't as good as Chrom and Robin at keeping themselves composed and even they didn't do that well. Robin looked at the reactions of most outrealm shepherds to see if there was anything noteworthy. A few reactions had gained his interest, he would make sure to mention it to the others later after his little investigation into this world. When asked what was going on, O. Robin only said two simple words, "Outrealm Gate". For a surprising number of them, it was actually a good enough answer but many still looked confused.

Both pairs quickly made their way to the command tent and agreed to stay there for the time being; seeing two identical Chroms or Robins at the same time was more than enough to freak out most of the others. The two Chroms sat at a table and began talking about things where there could be differences between the two worlds (geography, history, their own battles etc.) while the two robins actually started playing a game of chess. O. Robin though it might be a fun idea since if they were the same, then both should be good players; he always looked forward to finding worthy opponents since the only one in camp that could give him a hard time was Virion.

After several games, Robin got up and decided to wander around camp a bit, if it was just him it shouldn't cause too much of an issue. Besides, it wasn't like he openly walked about finding other shepherds to talk with; he was merely observing the outrealm shepherds behaviours and actions, looking for anything which, to him, seemed odd. On his way past a nearby lake, he found O. Sumia sitting at the water's edge. After watching for a minute, he didn't seem to find anything odd about O. Sumia and was about to go off again. However, he stopped for a moment when he heard someone else show up. Observing the scene again, Robin's eyes soon widened in shock. Going over the things he found out in his head (the reactions, their behaviours, this scene), it seemed he finally found what was different about this world.

* * *

The night passed rather quickly. Surprisingly, everyone got a decent amount of sleep despite recent events. It wasn't long before morning came and all the outrealm shepherds gathered in the command tent surrounding a large table. At one end were Chrom and Robin with their outrealm counterparts. O. Chrom was the first to talk.

"Ok everyone, as you know, Robin and I have look-alikes here visiting from the Outrealm Gate and stayed with us last night to look into this world more. This Chrom and I have had a long discussion but haven't come up with anything too major…" O. Chrom turned his head towards Robin.

"…but I know this Robin has been doing some investigating himself. I'm curious; did you manage to find anything?" he asked. Robin replied with a nod.

"After last night, I believe I actually have found some differences between our worlds."

It was easy to tell everyone was ready to listen after that, his own Chrom more than anyone else.

"First, let's go into what is the same. From what I've seen in this world and from listening in to the Chroms' conversation, it would seem that most things are identical; the land, the history and even the shepherds adventures from Plegia to Valm to Grima.

Now, for a few differences which I've managed to notice. If the chess games I had with my other self were anything to go by, we both have different takes on tactics and strategies…"

O. Robin nodded in agreement, thinking something along those lines considering their different play styles. Neither had proved superior though; by the end they had both won an equal amount of games.

"… I managed to confirm this later after my other self showed me a few battle records. Comparing them to what I remember, I could see that the battles played themselves differently, even though the outcomes were the same.

I guess it's something to be expected due to another difference which was easy to notice. I'm sure my Chrom noticed it as well."

Chrom nodded knowingly. There was one difference quick for them to notice after seeing the outrealm shepherds but kept it to themselves for the time being.

"It appears that a large number of you have trained in different roles and classes compared to our shepherds. For example, Stahl…"

O. Stahl looked up at Robin waiting for him to continue.

"Judging from your armour, I would assume you are a Great Knight, correct?" he asked. O. Stahl replied with a simple "Yes".

"Well, our world's Stahl is actually a Paladin (O. Stahl looked a bit surprised at this). There are other examples I can think of as well, some of them with more radical differences. However, this isn't the biggest change from our world that I have seen. From what I observed last night regarding your behaviours and also a certain scene I stumbled across (O. Sumia felt a bit tense here, wondering if he was talking about her), I believe I've found the key difference between our worlds."

He paused for a minute and quickly looked around the room, everyone was listening intensely and he thought he could hear someone making a drumroll noise in anticipation.

"I believe the key difference… is the relationships between the shepherds"

Everyone looked at him and wondered what he meant. Robin quickly began to elaborate.

"It would seem that, in comparison to our shepherds, everyone has gotten together with and, I would guess, married different people."

Everyone's eyes widened in shock, silence filled the entire room. Again, the situation had become rather awkward.

* * *

**Chapter end**

**I'm new to writing fan fiction so apologies in advance for any mistakes and errors. Any reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated.**

* * *

**I hope this chapter turned out better than I had hoped. To be honest, I fell as though I might be rushing through events rather quickly. Again though, I'm new to this so I'm not completely sure. Just something that will improve over time I guess, assuming I can keep this up. This is a lot more difficult and time consuming than I originally imagined.**


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER – I do not own Fire Emblem**

**Another group of shepherds**

**Chapter 3 – The other Lissa**

* * *

_Previously…_

"_I believe the key difference… is the relationships between the shepherds"_

_Everyone looked at him and wondered what he meant. Robin quickly began to elaborate._

"_It would seem that, in comparison to our shepherds, everyone has gotten together with and, I would guess, married different people."_

_Everyone's eyes widened in shock, silence filled the entire room. Again, the situation had become rather awkward._

* * *

Everyone stared at Robin in disbelief. It was shocking enough to everyone when it was announced that a different Chrom and Robin were visiting from the Outrealm Gate but the reactions to this probably topped them. O. Chrom started to speak.

"I'm sorry. Could… could you please repeat that?"

"It might be easier just to confirm it" Robin replied.

"Chrom normally keeps a photo of him and his wife on his person so I can assume you do to? (O. Chrom gave a stiff nod), can you please show us and reveal who your wife is?"

O. Chrom slowly reached into his pocket to pull out his photo which he slid onto the table.

"The woman that I married is Olivia." He glanced towards her direction, standing with their son and daughter Inigo and Lucina; seeing that all three of them had a hard time taking all this in as well. O. Olivia managed to put on a small reassuring smile to help calm his nerves a bit.

Chrom stood there staring at the photo, not really sure what to say at this point. He looked towards Robin who gave him a nod and a look that said 'you too'. Chrom pulled out his own photo and placed it next to O. Chrom's one.

"In my world… I- I'm actually married to Sumia"

The two photos were there on the table in view for everyone to look at and compare. Both photos featured Chrom with a woman. In Chrom's, it was Sumia and in O. Chrom's, it was Olivia. Both O. Olivia and O. Sumia fainted after seeing the two photos. Both of the photos were incredibly similar, Chrom was in the same position with the same smile and pose with his wife. Robin managed to notice that some of the other shepherds reacted more extremely to this than others. He finally spoke up.

"Just as I thought." Everyone turned towards Robin.

"At first it was only a suspicion since I didn't see the couples that we know walking around together. But last night, I came across this world's Sumia by the nearby lake, sharing a touching scene with this world's Gaius (O. Gaius blushed slightly, still visibly shocked. O. Sumia had regained consciousness by this point). If the relationships were the same, then she would never meet with Gaius like that, so it pretty much boosted my suspicions. I guessed that Sumia was married to Gaius here while Chrom was married to someone else. I think the same goes for the rest of you as well."

Most to the people in the room were completely lost for words. O. Lucina, more aggravated than shocked, asked the question which was on the minds of all the time-travelling children.

"Wait a second, us people from the future exist in your world as well right? How does that work if our parents didn't get together?!"

"From the looks of things, all of you still keep one parent and have one different. You and Morgan still have Chrom and me as your fathers while the rest of you keep the same mothers."

It was then Lucina was too stunned to say anything as thoughts began going through her head. A world where Olivia wasn't her mother or where Inigo wasn't her brother, it was too much. Similar thoughts went through the minds of the other time-travelling children as well, all still in disbelief. O. Robin tried to get things to continue.

"For the sake of more proof, just so we know we're not merely assuming it's the same for everyone, can we have another example?" O. Robin pulled out a photo of his own.

"In this world, I'm married to Cordelia; we have Morgan and Severa as our daughters."

He placed his own photo on the table for Robin to stare at. Robin was speechless at that moment; he already anticipated that O. Robin had a different wife to him when he came up with this theory but with this photo in front of him, a photo of him embracing Cordelia, it didn't make it any easier to accept. Robin put his own photo on the desk; a very similar photo, just like Chrom's one.

"In my world, I'm married to Lissa. Morgan is my daughter and Owain is my son."

"What!" O. Lissa and O. Owain shouted, moving in to get a closer look at the photo. O. Lon'qu also did the same, only not in as much of a rush. Robin seemed to be right yet again, this world's Lissa was with Lon'qu.

"I'm not sure if it's a result of different interactions in this world or if it was the same ones but led to something more intimate but it appears I was right. It wouldn't that surprising if this was the case with everyone."

No one felt they could argue against this anymore; they all felt that Robin was right, even if they didn't want to.

"None of you should be this disheartened. Remember, the two of us and the rest of our shepherds are separate people from different worlds. Even if things are awkward right now, you still have YOUR partners here."

Everyone realised that Robin was trying to be comforting about the situation and were grateful. Again, he was correct. The couples and families amongst the outrealm shepherds got together then to support each other. Believing things were just about done, Chrom spoke.

"I believe this meeting should be ending soon. I thank you all for letting us stay here but we have our own shepherds to return to. (He looked towards O. Chrom) If you and everyone else here are interested in meeting our group, you are free to join us on the way back to Southtown."

The outrealm shepherds agreed and began packing up camp. Most of them were interested in seeing their own doubles and who they were with. When everything was ready, the entire group went on their way.

* * *

The group had been travelling for a little while now and was mostly uneventful. It was also a quiet journey; most of them were still coming to terms with the meeting that morning. Certain members of the group such as O. Olivia and O. Sumia couldn't help but give odd looks towards each other because of what they learned back then.

As the journey continued, the group could hear the wings of an approaching pegasus. Some of them got into a stance, preparing for battle but Chrom and Robin just smiled, knowing who was coming.

"Robin! Chrom! I've finally found you!"

Many of them froze, recognising the voice and, as the black pegasus landed, the person riding it. They knew they were going to meet shepherds from the other group, but they didn't expect this. Riding the pegasus was a blond haired woman in dark flyer armour. On her back was a large weapon the others recognised as a killer lance and she was carrying a thoron tome in her hands. Something which caught the eye of the outrealm shepherds was her head piece. Everyone realised it was Lissa, the Lissa from Chrom and Robin's world. She got off her mount before running towards the pair and embracing Robin in a tight hug before giving him a stern look.

"Jeez, do you know how worried we all were? You've been gone the entire night! Where have you guys been!?"

"Sorry Lissa, I really am; but we found something interesting, just look behind us."

Lissa did and quickly gained a confused look. Her reaction was pretty much expected; everyone so far had a similar one and all the others were likely to as well.

"WHAT THE HELL!" she shouted.

O. Lissa stepped forward slowly, revealing herself. Both Lissas look long looks towards one another, inspecting each other. It seemed pretty clear to Robin exactly why Lissa would probably cause more shock than most of the others. He said that morning that their shepherds had trained in different classes but a great knight to a paladin like in his example was not the most radical change, this was something bigger. Standing in front of Lissa was someone who looked identical to her, but instead of the armour, she wore sage's robes carrying a physic staff on her back while holding her own tome. O. Lissa soon began to speak.

"I'm a dark flyer in your world… seriously. Magic tomes make sense but I can't even imagine riding a pegasus or using a lance, yet alone both at the same time!"

Lissa wasn't sure how to act, not really understanding what was going on, she turned to Robin.

"Robin, what's going on?"

"I'll explain in detail on the way back. The short version of now though, she's another you."

* * *

Despite saying he would explain in detail, his explanation didn't take all that long. Lissa had gotten the gist of it though. Since they were still travelling (they were getting close to Southtown now), she decided to head towards the back of the group where O. Lissa was, as well as her husband and son, and wanted to start a conversation.

"So another me huh… freaky."

"Tell me about it, this is actually weirder than I thought it would be."

"So what creeps you out more, the relationships thing or the fact that I can use a normal weapon?"

"I'm not completely sure" O. Lon'qu listened in while O. Owain decided to join in.

"So, in another world, my mother awakened the warrior's blood within her while also taking the path of magic. Truly, you must be a strong fighter in battle. It would be a great battle to witness if you both fought each other in training." O. Lissa gave a small sigh before replying.

"Sorry Owain, but it wouldn't be an easy fight for me. In magic, it would be close; but if she comes in with that lance, I don't like my chances."

"You belittle yourself too much mother. I have no doubt it would be a grand spectacle, after all, you are the greatest sage in Ylisse." Lissa nodded

"He's right you know. You're likely better in magic than I am." O. Lissa smiled at the complements. O. Owain turned towards Lissa.

"How about a spar against me then? Mother versus Son in combat, my sword has been aching for a worthy opponent; more so than those bandits and risen." Lissa gave a small laugh.

"Maybe another time, perhaps you could spar against the Owain from our world." O. Owain's eyes seemed to shine in excitement.

"Fighting against another me, brilliant. The two of us will engage in an epic battle, spanning many days and nights, proving who is more worthy to be considered the true scion of legend."

The others shared a chuckle at his usual theatrics but maybe he was onto something. Sparring with their other selves would be good training, something everyone was beginning to lack; after all, it was why the shepherds used the Outrealm Gate.

The group had finally made it to Southtown and were being led by Lissa to where the shepherds were staying. They were greeted by Sumia who gave Chrom a quick hug, before she even asked what they were doing; she saw the group behind them and shouted in confusion. This attracted all the other shepherds who quickly appeared, seeing what was happening. Robin gave a short explanation before walking off with Chrom. Both had seen the confused and shocked looks and reactions so many times by now that they really didn't care much about it anymore.

* * *

**Chapter end**

**I'm new to writing fan fiction so apologies in advance for any mistakes and errors. Any reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated.**

* * *

**This is becoming harder to write as I go on. Especially the later part of this chapter; I find Owain's theatrics a bit difficult to write up. For the regular shepherds, I'm using the couples and classes from my run through the game, not completely sure about all the outrealm shepherds yet. **

**From here, I planned to put less emphasis on Chrom and Robin and show the different interactions between the groups. If you have any good ideas about what ones I could do, I'm ready to listen; I've only got a few in minds at the moment. Although, the good thing about the direction I've taken this story in is I can make an ending if I end up running out of ideas. Hopefully, I can do several more chapters before that happens. Until next time.**


End file.
